KZ Carb Recommendation

Recently bought a ‘76 KZ 900 LTD from a good friends uncle who had fallen on hard times. Unfortunely he had sold the carbs off it before I acquired it. The motor has had work done to it so it’s not stock. I was hoping someone could steer me in the right direction on a carb selection. I’m not trying to squeeze every last bit of performance from it, just looking for something that just works and won’t break the bank. The engine has a 1075 big bore kit in it, ported/polished/milled head with 10.5 compression and R.C. 388 cams. Was told by previous owner bike made 123hp on the dyno. Thanks

The best option from the stock models are 28mm carbs from the Z1R / MK2 or even Suzuki GS1000 which should be good enough for the job.
Failing that the next option is after market Mikuni smoothbores or FCR flatslides both of which will hurt the wallet slightly.
If you are handy with a lathe or know someone who is the earlier more common 26mm carbs can be bored to close to 30mm with good results.

I'd say those dyno numbers should be closer to 100-105.

PLUMMEN wrote: I'd say those dyno numbers should be closer to 100-105.

Uh, ok. And your carb recommendation is??

I think that those hp numbers sound about right. My KZ1100 only produces 100hp stock. Its 1089cc's and has a compression ratio of 8.9 :1.

I wouldn't buy based on my suggestion alone, but BS34's came stock on my bike with similar hp and displacement numbers. You might want to check those. I just ebayed them and only one set showed up so I don't know about availability.

Good luck, Matt

What's your carb budget?

BTW, the GS1000 used VM26's

Nessism wrote: What's your carb budget?

BTW, the GS1000 used VM26's

And they also used VM28's on some models .
The GS1000-S in particular.
The GS1000 ones are distinguished by having both the fuel and air mix screws as they also do on the 26's.

The BS carbs are plentiful, (Kawi used them 1981-2005) and they work well on a stock or nearly stock engine. If you are using individual air filters in place of the factory air box, then the mechanical slide carbs would be a better choice as they are less sensitive to changes upstream, and generally less fiddly to dial in.

zed1015 wrote:

Nessism wrote: What's your carb budget?

BTW, the GS1000 used VM26's

And they also used VM28's on some models .
The GS1000-S in particular.
The GS1000 ones are distinguished by having both the fuel and air mix screws as they also do on the 26's.

The 1000S was a limited production model. In the USA/Canada, and most of the world, the '79 1000S came with VM26's and then BS34's in 1980. There were a few markets where larger VM's were offered; for the Kiwi market and maybe UK, where VM30's were offered (and maybe VM28's too, not sure). At any rate these bikes were only sold in very limited numbers in some very specific markets where racing was the focus. Trying to find a set of those carbs makes almost no sense since the availability is extremely limited and cost will be through the roof.

Nessism wrote:

zed1015 wrote:

Nessism wrote: What's your carb budget?

BTW, the GS1000 used VM26's

And they also used VM28's on some models .
The GS1000-S in particular.
The GS1000 ones are distinguished by having both the fuel and air mix screws as they also do on the 26's.

The 1000S was a limited production model. In the USA/Canada, and most of the world, the '79 1000S came with VM26's and then BS34's in 1980. There were a few markets where larger VM's were offered; for the Kiwi market and maybe UK, where VM30's were offered (and maybe VM28's too, not sure). At any rate these bikes were only sold in very limited numbers in some very specific markets where racing was the focus. Trying to find a set of those carbs makes almost no sense since the availability is extremely limited and cost will be through the roof.

And your point is WHAT ?
I merely stated which stock bikes came with suitable VM28's for this KZ and how to distinguish between them, not how rare or plentiful they are ( I have 3 sets by the way so they are not that scarce }.
Your earlier reply inferred that the GS1000 only came equipped with VM26's which is incorrect.
No official UK 1000S came with 30's only 28's.
The GSX1000S Katana however did come with VM32 smoothbores but these won't fit the KZ1000 due to different spacings and will only fit by re-engineering the linkages, shortening the intake stubs and making a new back plate which I did for my Z1R.

zed1015 wrote: And your point is WHAT ?

Namely that those Suzuki carbs you recommended were uber rare, and the chance of finding a set for less than a nosebleed expensive price is somewhere between slim and none.

Doesn't matter whether they are made of fairy dust and cost the earth.
The whole point was to inform the guy what stock 28mm carbs will fit and the differences between them.
The FACT is that they also fitted 28's to the GS1000 regardless of how easy or hard they are to get.